Mandaeans

It is not easy to speak about the origin and the history of the Mandaeans, because it is hardly discussed at all in their literature. They themselves believe that, as their religion was founded by the World of Light, they were not concerned with the history of this world. Up to the present day only one Mandaean text has emerged which refers, but in a very confused manner, to their history. It is the “Diwan of the great Revelation, called ‘ Inner Haran'” (“Haran Gawaita”).

There are several indications of the ultimate origin of the Mandaeans. Early religious concepts and terminologies recur in the Dead Sea Scrolls, and “Jordan” has been the name of every baptismal water in Mandaeism.[13] The Mandaic language is a dialect of southeastern Aramaic and is closely related to the language of the Babylonian Talmud. There is archaeological evidence that attests to the Mandaean presence in pre-Islamic Iraq.[14][15] The Mandaean religion prohibits the practice of circumcision. Some scholars, including Kurt Rudolph connect the early Mandaeans with the Jewish sect of the Nasoraeans.[15]

It appears that Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, was partly influenced by the Mandaeans.